Preview Round 7, 2023: St.Kilda v Port Adelaide - Marvel Stadium, Friday 28th April, 7:50PM AEST *WOOD 100TH*

[phantom13]

Had a 10.page back and forth about coaching appointment 'process' with phantom13 when Ross was going to be appointed.
While I appreciated the point, I am glad Basset said f*ck it let's get Ross.

My old memory is fading, did we play like this with Ross 1.0? Feels like we are much more dynamic, or is just because I am just starved of consistent form by the team?

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Good times.

Nah were way more dynamic than we were then.

Old Ross was incredibly dour and had no offensive flair, now were defensively dour and offensively pretty creative.

 

[SaintBilly]

I'm going to go on Friday even though St Kilda games give me immense anxiety.

I have only been to see us play five teams since 2016 - Carlton six times (2016 twice, 2018, 2019 twice and 2023), North in 2018 (bad friday), GWS in 2016 (loss), Essendon in 2017 (loss) and Melbourne in 2021 (loss)

It seems I can't even handle the stress of watching my own team which is sad cos I love the footy but I have a membership so I should attend more games I think.

After all it's just a game...

 

[Premium]

We have the VFL to judge these senior guys coming back in. Why do we need 20 pages on Billings and Jones. Let’s see how they go!

Correct , let's just Billings match fit before bringing back into the side - it's a long season and he will be back in the seniors when they think it's time to bring him back.

 

[SaintBilly]

There's a reason we've played this fixture in Cairns and China and Tassie. If we had 25k that would be a record attendance for a Saints game against Port in Melbourne.

Saints vs Port in Melbourne

2021 R18: 0 (lockdown)
2013 R17: 14,878
2010 R19: 22,467
2008 R18: 22,878
2002 R3: 17,641
2001 R19: 14,018
2000 R11: 17,509
1999 R9: 22,232 (Waverley)
1998 R8: 20,063 (Waverley)
1997 R7: 17,752 (Waverley)

So when we were going well in 08 and 10 we still only had 22k there. Late in both seasons though and crowds always drop off second half of the year before finals.

I think the club would be pretty happy with 25k tbh.

Ten years since we hosted Port in melbourne with a crowd.

 

[Winmar2Lockett]

Good times.

Nah were way more dynamic than we were then.

Old Ross was incredibly dour and had no offensive flair, now were defensively dour and offensively pretty creative.

We were awesome to watch in 09… stopped the oppo with a swarming defence & scored pretty easily (6th highest scoring team from memory)

That changed when Roo tore his hammy off the bone early the next year… Ross went uber defensive until the skipper returned.

Reckon you’re a bit off the $ with the ‘no offensive flair’ call… Milney & Roo alone had a pretty decent highlights reel.


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[sammm]

We were awesome to watch in 09… stopped the oppo with a swarming defence & scored pretty easily (6th highest scoring team from memory)

That changed when Roo tore his hammy off the bone early the next year… Ross went uber defensive until the skipper returned.

Reckon you’re a bit off the $ with the ‘no offensive flair’ call… Milney & Roo alone had a pretty decent highlights reel.


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What someone should do is compare 2009 with 2023 and see what's different.

 

[tim_saints]

Training today - a few observations:

• relatively light run as expected - bit over an hour I think
• lots of transitioning drills with 2 teams working the ball by hand & foot including a shot for goal at the end
• very small ground drill focussing on hitting targets in congestion
• goal kicking practice
• King did some very light 1 on 1 contact work in the goal square plus a lot of repeat leads trying to fatigue him (worked with Caminiti)

At 1 stage BJ wasn’t happy with the quality of the drill and pulled them up.

Standards being set, bloody love it.

 

[Joffaboy]

We were awesome to watch in 09… stopped the oppo with a swarming defence & scored pretty easily (6th highest scoring team from memory)

That changed when Roo tore his hammy off the bone early the next year… Ross went uber defensive until the skipper returned.

Reckon you’re a bit off the $ with the ‘no offensive flair’ call… Milney & Roo alone had a pretty decent highlights reel.


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After 6 matches the 2009 team were literally a 4 goal better team according to the For stats. Against, they were a 2 point better team.

Considering our injuries, a guess would be maybe we are a two goal better team with the full list. So maybe over the years the myth of dour Saints 2009 has grown.

Also personally after 12 years of moribund leaking poor defence, I am enjoying the squeeze and the strangulation of the opposition teams. I have watched the 4th qtr three times, loving every second of watching the hope and energy drain from Carlton as the minutes ticked by and they were 'muzzled' and brought to heel while nothing was happening.
Was as enjoyable as watching Warnie bowl 8 straight maiden overs second session day three of a test. Others would find it boring, I found it fascinating and so so enjoyable.

 

[Remboy]

After 6 matches the 2009 team were literally a 4 goal better team according to the For stats. Against, they were a 2 point better team.

Considering our injuries, a guess would be maybe we are a two goal better team with the full list. So maybe over the years the myth of dour Saints 2009 has grown.

Also personally after 12 years of moribund leaking poor defence, I am enjoying the squeeze and the strangulation of the opposition teams. I have watched the 4th qtr three times, loving every second of watching the hope and energy drain from Carlton as the minutes ticked by and they were 'muzzled' and brought to heel while nothing was happening.
Was as enjoyable as watching Warnie bowl 8 straight maiden overs second session day three of a test. Others would find it boring, I found it fascinating and so so enjoyable.

Watching Warne bowl was never boring.

 

[my name was taken]

Decided to go back and do my best fox sports analysis impression to highlight a Brynes moment of the game that I noticed while watching, and the exact reason why he would never be dropped while he plays like this.

Look at the clock, he would have covered more ground than most people finished the game with by this point. He was at CHF moments before this as well.
Straight lines the ball at speed and wins it, misses the tackle, then sized up Silvagni coming in and dished off once he pulled the defense in. We had a deep i50 from the string of possessions that started in that moment. RTB would get his rocks off on this type of play. The difference of being just 1m to 2m slower there is probably laying a tackle on the Carlton player for a stoppage. I know what we all prefer, so unless we have someone else that could do that, there is no contest for his spot, I don't think Billings wins that ball, DMac could but he is not in the discussion right now.

He's a tough kid and only 21yo and building nicely at the level, as the kiddos would say, let him cook (am i using this right)

 

[Ducky Tie]

It will be so interesting to see what King is like once he's back. He's seemingly doing a mini pre-season now to get extra conditioning. You'd have to think he will be playing a bit of a different role last year. I'm exciting to see how nimble and advanced he is in his defensive pressure and his ability to get a bit more of the footy/push up the ground. I don't see him playing the role he has previously where he sits deep and we kick it on his head.

 

[AirWinmar]

Look at the last few pages.

3 quarters in the VFL and people want Billings in like he is some gun. Ignoring that this side have just gone 5-1 without him.

He has only had 1 gun season in his career.

There is genuinely 1 bloke out injured that is arguably a walk up start as he is arguably our best player or Atleast the bloke with the biggest Xfactor on the list.

King.

Everyone else can and should be putting vfl footballers to the sword for a few weeks. Seeing as they aren’t talls vital to the 22. But mids that seem to have been replaced by younger better versions.

Just coz were 5 and 1, it doesn't mean you don't play better players if they are available. Billings can be a very good player that based on exposed form you would expect more output than Windy, Pou, Cordy - possibly Butler although he did play well against the Blues in the end. In saying that, Billings hasn't played 1sts for awhile, but the coaches will have a feel from training whether he would be a better option. See on Thursday tho. Shame the Sandy bye is this week

 

[The Cobra]

It will be so interesting to see what King is like once he's back. He's seemingly doing a mini pre-season now to get extra conditioning. You'd have to think he will be playing a bit of a different role last year. I'm exciting to see how nimble and advanced he is in his defensive pressure and his ability to get a bit more of the footy/push up the ground. I don't see him playing the role he has previously where he sits deep and we kick it on his head.

Agree - can see him alternating up the ground with Membrey or even a 3 way move with Caminiti & Membrey if RTB wants a taller forward line (I know - not room for Cordy as well - let’s see how that unfolds)

Think King will enjoy some freedom.

 

[Brains Trust66]

RTB is a genius , at the start of the season did anyone pick Owens to go into the ruck at times or for him to do rucking in the forward line sometimes too ? And he does a good job when he does it . Never saw that coming . Plus Stocker and Byrnes both holding their positions in the side , i know its only been 6 weeks but they werent even listed as emergencies in my side at the start of the season . Shows you what i know. lol

 

[AirWinmar]

I still hope he does work his way in at some point and reaches his ceiling. As it stands now Billings will have been a massive under achiever for his talent levels.

Yes its going to be interesting to see how Billings and also Coff goes under a competent football department. Both have a lot of talent - better than most. if they can play close to their best we will be ripping.

 

[phantom13]

We were awesome to watch in 09… stopped the oppo with a swarming defence & scored pretty easily (6th highest scoring team from memory)

That changed when Roo tore his hammy off the bone early the next year… Ross went uber defensive until the skipper returned.

Reckon you’re a bit off the $ with the ‘no offensive flair’ call… Milney & Roo alone had a pretty decent highlights reel.


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We had two (argurably three with Kozi) generational forwards.

Of course we scored well.

Put it this way.

Imagine Roo and Milney playing with this team, Roo would be a chance at the ton.

Footy was also alot different, and Ross was one of the first with a zone defence. We were great to watch but footy was also alot more attacking back then.

Original comment wasnt intended as a shot at RTB or anyone else, just an observation that we didnt have an offensive focus. We definitely do now.

 

[Brains Trust66]

Yes its going to be interesting to see how Billings and also Coff goes under a competent football department. Both have a lot of talent - better than most. if they can play close to their best we will be ripping.

Unless we get injuries to our current backline i just dont know where Coff is going to fit in . We also have Webster to fit in as well .

 

[g_TRAIN]

Billings for mine will need a block of 3-4 VFL games and then an injury or form drop-off from someone before he gets a look.

That's just the way Ross picks his team, if you keep doing your role you will keep being picked.

Once he's picked I can see him nailing a spot in the team and being hard to dislodge but he's going to have to earn it back the hard way.

 

[Ducky Tie]

Time to start running Owens through the midfield a bit I reckon. He just about looks like our most likely clearance type whens he's in the ruck. 4 clearances against the Blues despite very little time up the ground. Doesn't need massive midfield minutes, but I'd be running him through there a couple of times a quarter as a midfielder, on top of his occasional ruck duties.

 

[Brains Trust66]

Not sure who is going to kick the goals for Port this week , but having said that , pretty sure i said the same thing about us round one .

 

[SaintBilly]

What someone should do is compare 2009 with 2023 and see what's different.

It's not necessarily a case of what is the same or different - I think there was this air of invincibility about us in 2009 and each week was another test passed as we just dismantled every opposition put up against us.

Look at the teams we beat and their respective positions in 2008

Sydney finished 6th and went out in the semi finals
Adelaide finished 5th and went out in the elimination
West Coast finished 15th with four wins
Fremantle finished 14th with six wins
Port Adelaide finished 13th with seven wins
Bulldogs finished 3rd and went out in a prelim.

So the argument "We haven't beaten anyone yet" rang even truer then than it did this year. And we copped that all year.

Fremantle finished 5th and went out in the semi finals
Bulldogs finished 8th and went out in the elimination
Essendon finished 15th with 7 wins
Gold Coast finished 12th with 10 wins
Carlton finished 9th with 12 wins

We also lost to Collingwood who finished fourth and went out in the prelim by one point

But the difference was we had almost a full squad to pick from in 2009 whereas we were pretty decimated by injury early this year although it's starting to pick up now.

So I don't think we're anywhere close to the style we played in 2009 but this is still just as enjoyable because this group is so youthful and we'll have the benefit of them for years to come. I'm looking forward to seeing how we blossom over the next few years and see what else we can unearth.

 

[SaintBilly]

Not sure who is going to kick the goals for Port this week , but having said that , pretty sure i said the same thing about us round one .

Dixon goes alright. They still have that other kid Ollie Lord who played on the weekend. Powell-Pepper can kick them, Byrne-Jones goes alright and they have some decent mids who kick goals - expect to see Rozee or Butters play forward a bit too.

 

[DougalHoward]

RTB is a genius , at the start of the season did anyone pick Owens to go into the ruck at times or for him to do rucking in the forward line sometimes too ? And he does a good job when he does it . Never saw that coming . Plus Stocker and Byrnes both holding their positions in the side , i know its only been 6 weeks but they werent even listed as emergencies in my side at the start of the season . Shows you what i know. lol

Mitchito did a bit of rucking last year, no centre bounces though

 

[Bertha]

If Dixon doesn't play for Port this week, who comes in as their key forward and if they go small, does that create a mismatch for the likes of Dougal in the back line? Maybe of they go small, potentially we go smaller too?

In a way, I almost want Dixon to play because it fits our setup better.

 

[SaintBilly]

Billings for mine will need a block of 3-4 VFL games and then an injury or form drop-off from someone before he gets a look.

That's just the way Ross picks his team, if you keep doing your role you will keep being picked.

Once he's picked I can see him nailing a spot in the team and being hard to dislodge but he's going to have to earn it back the hard way.

I'm quite okay with this. The season is still young and we've got a good head start. We've played three finalists from last year and don't play any of them again this year. We still have seven games to come out of the current bottom five teams on the ladder. So if it takes a bit more time to get our best 22 up and running I'm perfectly okay with this.

We'll only get better too. I don't see this lot getting ahead of themselves and am not even worried about breaks given how hard they worked at running. Everyone said that's all they did all pre season and fitness is going to come into it big time.